Who Inspires Us: The Motivational Speakers You Need to Hear

After a turbulent week, I’ve turned to people who motivate me to get me back on track. Moving to a new city is exciting and fun, full of adventures and is a great experience, but sometimes even if you live in one of the biggest cities in the world and are surrounded by people, you can feel exceptionally lonely.

It’s a similar experience to our working lives. We start off the year full of optimism and vigour, yet market forces, organisational change, team culture, new strategies etc can throw us off course.

When this happens, we need to reset the equilibrium. We need a ray of sunshine, a bright spark, an inspirational message, a story to rally behind. A motivator.

With this in mind, I asked the wonderful people I work with to let me know who their favourite motivational speakers  are, and why.

Tim

Benjamin Zander  – Benjamin’s use of the metaphor of music to life and work is something that really resonated with me. To add to this, his has such an incredible ability to connect emotionally while providing poignant take-aways.

Former conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Zander has an extensive inspirational speaking career, traveling the world as a keynote speaker.

Yogi

Sophia Thakur  - There's being motivational in what you say and there's being motivational in how you construct what you say. It’s not just her outlook on life, or a new, radical idea, but that and the way she's mastered her delivery.

Sophia is a truly unique speaker delivering an incredibly powerful message on topics ranging from mental health, diversity, politics, wellbeing to the key issue of the day.

Roma

Steve Brown  - He had to totally rebuild his life after a devastating accident and then went on to be a TV presenter and Olympian. I mean damn. He is also such a great story teller.

Steve presents for Countryfile and Springwatch and previously captained the London 2012 Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby team. He speaks openly about his own inspiring journey of injury and recovery, life’s pressures and aiming for excellence.

Lucy

John Amaechi  – If you need to ask why, then you don’t know the power of John Amaechi. John has an incredible blend of powerful, hard hitting stories mixed with self-appreciative humour. His level of observation and analysis in group/team psychology and business strategy is astounding and completely on the nose.

John is a respected organisational psychologist, best-selling New York Times author and CEO of Amaechi Performance Systems (APS). He focuses on improving performance, solving intractable people problems and creates thriving workplaces despite the challenges and disruption of the modern world.

Debbie

Miles Hilton Barber  - The most inspiring person I have ever met. Miles has the most beautiful heart and shows you that 'it is not impossible, it has just never been done before'. Dream, Decide, Plan, Persevere. Miles doesn't believe his blindness is holding him back - he believes there are more blind people in the sighted world who are blind to learning and challenge. After I spoke to him, I signed up for an 88 mile bike ride!

World record-breaking adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber has sledged 250 miles across Antarctica, trekked 150 miles through the Sahara Desert on foot and piloted a 55-day, 21,000 km microflight from Sydney to London, and he lost his sight when he was in his 20s. ‘The Blind Adventurer’ - as he is known - is able to inspire his audience with the sheer amount he has been able to achieve despite being blind.

Rebecca

Marc Koska  - His story, what he has done and what he intends to do in the future is just so inspiring. when he spoke at our Knowledge Guild he got a spontaneous round of applause mid speech. The non reusable syringe seems so obvious now, but hearing Marc talk about it and the struggles he went through to bring it to market is fascinating.

Pioneering the inexpensive and non-reuseable syringe, Marc Koska OBE is one of the most impressive and inspirational entrepreneurs. Sharing his inspirational story that changed the face of the medical world, Marc delivers an educational and inspiring speech.

Sophie

Nick Jankel  - The way in which he uses neuro-scientific research to talk to audiences about their brains and how to use the natural way in which our brain functions to innovate is fascinating.

Nick Jankel is a thought leader and best-selling author whose ideas are focused on removing the pain of change so that organizations and leaders can forge the future rather than fail it.

Nick

Spencer West  - This man is incredible. His story of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on his arms as the wheelchair couldn’t handle the conditions, his two friends who joined him got extreme altitude sickness so Spencer had to continue the rest of the way solo. The persistence and motivation that had to come from within is incredible. Such a moving story.

Spencer West has not let losing his legs at the age of five hold him back from achieving amazing things. Inspirational and charismatic, Spencer speaks candidly about his struggles and how he never lost the hope or courage he needed to overcome personal obstacles.

Rob

I just love Johny Cupcakes . His story is incredible creating a family owned brand which turns into a cult following, people queuing around the street for hours, always looking out for his customers, overcoming his own adversities etc and ending it with one simple thing "Do more of what makes you happy".

The founder of the world-renowned tee-shirt brand Johnny Cupcakes, Johnny’s known  for helping other people create blueprints for building brand loyalty, creating  memorable experiences, and inspiring innovation.

Abigail

Anthony Bennett  - Such a lovely guy! His story of fighting 3 viral infections, being given a 10% chance of survival, being resuscitated 12 times and living to tell the tale is truly inspirational (I was holding back tears!). The work he has done for Great Ormond St Hospital is wonderful and he is a solid reminder of not giving up.

In 2006, after returning from a trip to Disneyland Paris Anthony fell extremely ill and was left fighting for his life.

Such a diverse range of experts who spend their life motivating others to achieve greatness. Sometimes all it takes is one person to inspire you to turn things around, whether that be in the workplace, in relationships and generally in life.

For further information or to book a speaker, call us on   or email  info@speakerscorner.co.uk .

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